Obama

I arrived just after 8am: The doors were to open at 8:45 and the program started at 10. Maybe 50 or so in line when I arrived, but within a few minutes that had swelled to 200 or so (by my ad hoc head count). Weather was chilly but not cold, very foggy with an ever-so-slight drizzle in the air.

The soggy conditions did not dampen the spirits of the crowd--the mood ranged from buoyant to downright rowdy.

Doors opened at 8:50 and we were efficiently processed in through the metal detectors. I was guided to a seat in the third row dead center maybe 20 feet from the podium. Sweet.

I scanned the crowd: Looked like at least half were students (no surprise there--the hall sits adjacent to a dorm wing). Maybe 60 percent white. More than a few of the non-students in the crowd were, shall we say....of somewhat more mature years. The crowd continued to file in: All the seats were taken and I do believe the capacity of the room exceeded. Plenty of people were standing in the back (I briefly considered giving up my seat--scanned the crowd and looking for older folks or expectant mothers--seeing none, I sat tight). A speaker was placed outside for the benefit of those who were unable to get in.

A brief welcome from a Winthrop student and a quick warm up from a local Democrat and the Man Hissef emerged to quite thunderous applause.

Probably his standard stump speech from around the state (he's been spending some time in SC). There were notes on the podium which he consulted from time to time. No teleprompter. Most of the time he scanned the room, made LOTS of eye contact, and used an easygoing, conversational style.

He's quite strong in this format. Comes across as quite sincere. Picking up on McCain's win here last Saturday, he used the phrase "straight talk" more than once. Of course, the entire speech was fully stocked with "change". I think they should back off the phrase, just a bit. Good use of humor...the bit about being Dick Cheney's cousin was effective, and I noticed he has developed good comedic timing---he gave the laugh lines the time they needed.

LOTS of policy details. Those who claim he is weak in this area strike me as off-base: He included as much detail as possible today. Hit all the high points, with special emphasis on trade in general and NAFTA in particular.

Liked what he said about health care (even though I prefer more radical reform a la' Kucinich). I thought he made a good point for the need to restore America's moral standing in the world. Promises to make college more affordable are fine, but something of a gimme given the on-campus venue.

He seems to be walking a line, trying to draw distinctions 'tween himself and Hillary (and Edwards)---while keeping above the fray. No easy task, given the nature of the opposition. He was quite gentle today.

During the brief Q&A period Obama did something which made me squirm a bit: Asked a fairly direct question about the defecit, he side-stepped it and give a lengthy and detailed breakdown of his economic program...going right back to his talking points. Like all politicians, instead of answering the question he transformed it into the question he was prepared for. The moment smacked of---handlers.

Having said that, his answer was a good one, and well-delivered.

Good news-bad news: As I scanned the crowd I saw only 1 member of the local Democratic Party establishment. All the rest appear to have signed on with Hillary or Edwards. I consider this a positive for the Obama campaign---my experience (over 30 years now) with Democrats is that at the local level it is very much an exclusive "insiders club". Obama has brought in folks who have never been involved before.

But...that gives him a tougher hill to climb come primary day.

And serious fence-mending, after.

More later--my training miles are way down and the road beckons.